28 Mar 2024
Saturday 18 April 2015 - 23:07
Story Code : 160772

Will Russian missile deal complicate final Iran agreement?

Russian President Vladimir Putin is trying to send someone a message with his April 13 decree authorizing the delivery of S-300 surface-to-air missiles to Iran. But who?

The most striking aspect of the decree is its timing. Exactly a week before the Kremlin announced the decision, I argued that the S-300 sale contracted in 2007 and suspended by former President Dmitry Medvedev by decree in 2010 was likely to follow a final agreement on Irans nuclear program, under negotiation with a June deadline. In brief, I wrote, since Russia viewed Medvedevs steps to halt the sale as a voluntary gesture to the United States, Israel and others trying to press Tehran to negotiate, there would be no reason for Moscow to continue to withhold the missiles after a final deal.

Yet, publicly announcing this intent in advance is another matter entirely. Putins formal presidential action while negotiations are still underway cannot but complicate efforts to reach a final agreement, most notably by strengthening the arguments of skeptics in the US Congress. They will in turn put greater political pressure on the Obama administration for tougher terms. In fact, by focusing on the Russia-Iran arms relationship when there is already apparent disagreement between the United States, Iran and other parties to the talks over when the UN Security Council should lift sanctions, the Kremlins move could create a situation in which Washington takes a harder line on conventional arms restrictions than Iran is prepared to accept.

Read more here

 

This article was written byPaul J. Saunders for Al-Monitor on April 17, 2015. Paul J. Saunders is a columnist for Al-Monitor's Russia Mideast Pulse and theexecutive director of the Center for the National Interest.

https://theiranproject.com/vdccmxqsi2bqem8.-ya2.html
Your Name
Your Email Address